Texas to be home for clean technology group

Houston ChronicleMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, June 20, 2009

By Tom Fowler

Houston Chronicle

A group that lobbies and organizes for clean technology will move its headquarters from Boston to Austin to take advantage of what its founder says is Texas' position to be a leader in developing technologies.

The Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries Organization's move to Texas won't mean new jobs at first, said Matthew Laudon, the nonprofit's president and founding chairman. It has just a few workers, and not all will move south.

But the group's work connecting technology developers and lobbying on their behalf could pay off for Texas economic development.

"In whatever we do, we'd want to be sure there were opportunities for Texas companies and that Texas would have something to offer these businesses from outside the state," Laudon said.

Gov. Rick Perry lauded the move as "yet another sign of our state's leadership position in developing clean technologies."

Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries works with a variety of companies - including aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials and public utility Austin Energy - to turn technology into profitable products. This can include being an intermediary between companies and organizations that might not normally work with each other or representing the interests of those companies before lawmakers.

"When we say 'clean tech,' we don't mean renewable energy per se," Laudon said. "Our focus is on emerging technology that helps with efficiency, lower pollutant levels, less water use."

Texas is attractive to the group for both its long-standing oil, gas and chemical industries and the potential for new technologies.

The state leads the U.S. in wind-generated power thanks to incentives in a 1999 law. Texas is trying to attract a facility for the next generation of batteries for vehicles, and Austin hopes to draw companies by turning its power system into a laboratory for smart grid equipment.

David Nance, executive chairman of Innovate Texas, a nonprofit that promotes cooperation between Texas companies and researchers that is letting CTSI share its office space, said the economic downturn is a chance for Texas to gain a foothold in new or developing industries.

"This is a time in history where global economic problems are making it possible for Texas to take mind share and market share away from other regions," Nance said. "Having CTSI here means we can help define the way certain industries look years from now."